Former Baltimore resident Patricia Lee thought she left Charm City for good when CSX Corp. relocated her to Jacksonville, Fla., in 1997.
But a decade later, Baltimore City officials wrote to let her know they?re still thinking about her.
A parking ticket issued on her expired Maryland tags in 2002 ? tags she took with her to Florida and stored in her garage ? garnered Lee a shocking notice this month demanding roughly $1,100 in fines and penalties. The violation? Parking at an expired meter near Maryland General Hospital off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
“When I first got the notice, I thought it was a scam,” Lee said in a phone interview from Florida.
“I was at my job in Jacksonville [that day]; besides, the tags had expired.”
Shocked, Lee requested a copy of the ticket. Issued by an agent “Epps,” the ticket alleges Lee was illegally parked on the morning of Jan. 4, 2002.
“They have to be crazy,” she said. “I was down here in Florida in 2002.”
The hefty bill is now in the hands of a collections firm ? Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson ? hired by the city to pursue parking scofflaws.
Taking matters into her own hands, Lee sent a letter to Inspector General Hilton Green from her employer verifying that she was at work in Florida the day the ticket was issued. She also has appealed her case to the collections firm.
“They told me to ask for a court date and tell it to a judge,” she said.
“I said, ?You have to be kidding. Am I supposed to travel to Baltimore from Florida to fight a $23 ticket?? ”
Baltimore City Department of Transportation officials said they would investigate the ticket but could not respond by press time.
Meanwhile, Lee said that despite plans to visit Baltimore soon, she has reservations about the town she used to call home.
“It?s just laziness. My tags have expired, and furthermore the ticket looks like it was written over.
“They need to be more thorough.”
